International Service that Really Serves: Experiences in Latin America and Africa

In most countries throughout the world speech-language pathology and audiology are underdeveloped fields with only a handful of professionals. Over the past decade, however, U.S.-based SLPs and Audiologists have begun to travel and offer their services abroad. Some trips are study tours, others provide direct services, and a few develop university training programs.Dr. Cate Crowley has significant international experience in places like Ghana, Bolivia, and Guatemala. On most trips she brings a team of graduate students and clinical supervisors who provide services and offer professional development in schools and hospitals, across practice areas including aural habilitation, intellectual disabilities, cleft palate, aphasia, and autism. With the goal of developing sustainable programs and building in-country capacity, Cate works throughout the year on these programs using available technology. In this talk Cate shares proven approaches and strategies, and offers reflections on challenges and unsuccessful initiatives. She also focuses on long- and short-term benefits to her team, and to her university SLP program. Attendees are encouraged to ask questions and raise concerns related to their own interests in international work.

Catherine J. Crowley, CCC-SLP, JD, PhD,Distinguished Senior Lecturer in speech-language pathology at Teachers College Columbia University, founded and directs the bilingual/multicultural program focus and the Bilingual Extension Institute. In Ghana, Bolivia, and Guatemala she creates innovative, sustainable approaches to meeting the needs of people with communication disabilities. An experienced attorney, Cate is working with NYCDOE on a multi-year project to improve the accuracy of disability evaluations. Cate, an ASHA fellow, received the "2012 Humanitarian Award" from the National Council of Ghanaian Associations, and ASHA's certificates for "Contributions to Multicultural Affairs" and for "International Achievement".